Torey Lovullo Discusses Diamondbacks' Utility Role, Young Infielders

The first day of full-squad workouts has arrived for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and there's already a competition in the infield.

After the departure of 2024 utilityman Kevin Newman, the D-backs find themselves in need of a reliable infielder who can fill in a variety of roles.

On Monday, manager Torey Lovullo addressed a the topic with reporters, including Diamondbacks On SI's Jack Sommers.

Lovullo said defense is a priority for his utilityman, as has been the standard in Arizona's organization. But it's specifically shortstop that's the starting point for that kind of role.

“I think we've got to have a shortstop that's comfortable, that plays the game quickly, under control, and makes the routine play. I want all infielders to make the routine play," Lovullo said.

"That's what we do here. But specifically a backup shortstop that's not logging a lot of time, he's got to find a rhythm to being able to do that consistently when he's playing."

The skipper said that while Geraldo Perdomo is in no danger of losing his starting role, but emphasized names like Jordan Lawlar and Blaze Alexander with regard to the backup competition.

"We have some really good players that we have to make some really tough decisions on. So is [Lawlar] in a bit of a logjam? You could say that. I mean, the obvious thing is, yeah, there's a bunch of names and there's a bunch of infielders, but they're all competing, and we'll see how it fills in as spring evolves."

Lawlar has been on the cusp of beginning his MLB career for some time. He had a cup of coffee in the majors back in 2023, but a nagging bunch of injuries have derailed that progress to this point.

Lawlar played winter ball in the Dominican Republic this offseason. Lovullo said it was a good opportunity for the young infielder to make up for some of his lost time in a competitive environment.

"It was needed for him to catch up with some at-bats, put him in that competition."

"And that's a very competitive league. He was playing for [Tigres de Licey] in the capital city, and every game's a big game. So we put him into that environment specifically to ramp up that intensity in the moment," Lovullo said.

"And on top of that, we wanted to catch up with the 50, 75, 80 at-bats, whatever he had. But Jordan is on a great trajectory. He's a very mature young man.

"He has grasped and continues to grasp our concepts, what's important here, and now it's just a matter of consistency. We talked about a little bit of his off-season training program once he came back, and it seems to be in a very good spot.

Lovullo said Lawlar's swing and approach looked "operational," and that there's an intentionality and plan behind every swing

Another name in the mix is young infielder Blaze Alexander. Alexander spent the first few months of 2024 in the majors, getting off to an exceptionally hot start before cooling significantly.

But Alexander's bat wasn't the sticking point. Rather, it was his inconsistency in making defensive plays and six errors that contributed to his -4 Fielding Run Value.

Lovullo seemed to imply that he might be at a disadvantage for the time being with regard to the utility role, but still acknowledged his success, and said that Alexander would be a part of the competition.

"Blaze was a great story last year. He came in here and his pants were on fire and he did a great job, and he plays that way, and I have no problem with that.

"But if you were to ask me the one thing that I noticed about Blaze as the season wore on was the consistency that we needed defensively was in and out. It was real good, and there were some moments where the plays weren't made. So we told him how important that is," Lovullo said.

"We told him to control the zone, and he's going to be fine. Blaze has a very bright future here with us, so he's part of that equation there with Lawlar, no doubt about it."

"We love Blaze. He's just got to continue to develop and do what's important to where he's at at this time in his career, and that's probably more about consistency," the skipper continued.

Lovullo also noted that Alexander would "possibly" receive some outfield reps. General manager Mike Hazen noted previously that an ability to fill in an outfield spot with quality defense is a plus for a utilityman.

And for that reason, there's more names than just Lawlar and Alexander in the mix. Players like Garrett Hampson, Ildemaro Vargas and Grae Kessinger will all present their cases to earn the utility job, with sleepers like Tim Tawa also involved.

Since the ability to play the outfield might offer a boost to any of these candidates, it could be the worst kept secret that Hampson is the de facto utilityman, but Lovullo appears committed to giving his younger players the opportunity to earn that job this spring.